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| 6 Fourth Age: The Shape of Things to Come; [ Open ] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 2 Sep 2008, 01:47 PM (736 Views) | |
| Deleted User | 10 Sep 2008, 05:02 PM Post #11 |
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Aragorn had just finished putting the last Orc body on the pile when he heard a small voice behind him and turned to see Celarwen in a curtsy. His anger over the Orcs daring to move through Rohan disappeared at such a silly sight as a girl giving a curtsy to a man dressed as a Ranger. He knew it would be no silly thing to a Gondorian, however. “Lady Celarwen, before I ask any of the hundreds of questions I have for you, please tell me the name of your father and where I might find him.” He was curious to know if she had her father’s permission to travel alone and without a weapon. If she did, and Aragorn had anything to say about the man’s fate, he would learn a valuable lesson. If she did not, then it was upon her own head. Aragorn would try and put a little sense into it. “Your horse is still saddled and ready to ride? We make for Edoras at once. You’ll be riding with me. Then we’ll go see your father.” Aragorn was very nearly at Brego’s side before he paused and held out a hand to the Ranger with the tinderbox. He knew what mark was burned into the Orc’s hand, but one man’s memory could be altered or lost. Taking out his hunting knife, the King strode over to the Orcs, knelt down, and a second later there was a blood-curling crunch as the wrist bone snapped. He wrapped the hand in burlap and put it into his saddlebags. He swung up onto Brego’s back, gave an order for the Rangers to fall back, and urged his horse into a gallop. |
| Deleted User | 10 Sep 2008, 05:35 PM Post #12 |
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“Lady Celarwen, before I ask any of the hundreds of questions I have for you, please tell me the name of your father and where I might find him.” Celarwen said nothing in reply. She was deeply ashamed of being in trouble with the King. She looked down at the ground and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and thought of her father at home wondering where his daughter was. She could imagine her mother sobbing, believeing her only child to be dead. Celarwen hadn't wanted to cause this much pain. "Minas Tirith" was all she said shame faced. “Your horse is still saddled and ready to ride? We make for Edoras at once. You’ll be riding with me. Then we’ll go see your father.” Celarwen nodded and walked over to Ithilia. She climbed onto her horse and untied her from the log. She shifted her horse so that it was ready to go. She hung her head and avoided looking at anyone whilst the King got ready. Once they started to ride together she finally confessed. "My father doesn't know where I am. I ran away" she added as she guided Ithilia into a gallop. |
| Deleted User | 11 Sep 2008, 03:08 PM Post #13 |
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The King looked sidelong at the young Lady, incredulity pasted across his rugged features. But there was something else glimmering in his sea gray eyes. “You were able to exit all seven gates in Minas Tirith and pass through the Rammas Echor and pass by all the sentry points between there and Rohan … undetected?” It was just the sort of test a young Ranger might have to go through, and even any Dunedain woman who wanted to travel and use her skills away from the Angle. Not many passed their first time, or even their second. Aragorn had, but then, he’d been trained by the Elves. “Then my anger is somewhat cooled. For all your stealth, however, you seem to have skipped a good lesson in tracking.” Aragorn pointed to the ground. It was beaten down in places with only sporadic blades of the yellow tuft springing up. “An eored passed through here less than six hours ago. The Rohirric horses, much like your own, are light of foot so you’ll see no prints on the dry ground. Nothing can pass undetected, however.” Flaming tendrils of light erupted behind them as the Sun rose over the horizon. The ground before them, which had been pale yellow in the pre-dawn light, was now shot with vibrant hues. In the full light, Aragorn was startled to see how young Celarwen truly was. It only strengthen his resolve to keep her close, then return her to her father. “Before we reach Edoras, I need to hear anything you might know from your travels. Did you see any other Orcs between Lothlorien and here? Encounter any strange travelers or anyone at all?” She wasn’t a tracker, so she wouldn’t know exactly what to look and listen for. “Were the birds singing? Did you see any woodland animals? Nothing is too insignificant.” Aragorn looked at her expectantly, hoping there was something—anything—she could tell him about what was happening wherever she had come from. |
| Deleted User | 11 Sep 2008, 03:34 PM Post #14 |
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“You were able to exit all seven gates in Minas Tirith and pass through the Rammas Echor and pass by all the sentry points between there and Rohan … undetected?” Celarwen looked uncomfortable. "I wore my father's cloak and I escaped out of Minas Tirith when they let a few guards out. I think they were heading to the sentry posts I am not sure. They didn't notice me or if they did perhaps they believed my father was visiting someone." she said quietly reliving the details in her own mind to make sure she was getting her facts right. She didn't want to look a fool. "I did not go that way" she said honestly. "I headed west of Minas Tirith. It took me to Dol Amroth. There I travelled North. I went through the White Mountains, crossed the river there and avoided the Gap of Rohan. I travelled through Enedwaith and Minihiwaith and I avoided Dunland and somehow I found myself in Arnor. I did not go through Rohan, this is my first time in Rohan" she confessed quietly. “Then my anger is somewhat cooled. For all your stealth, however, you seem to have skipped a good lesson in tracking.” Aragorn pointed to the ground. It was beaten down in places with only sporadic blades of the yellow tuft springing up. “An eored passed through here less than six hours ago. The Rohirric horses, much like your own, are light of foot so you’ll see no prints on the dry ground. Nothing can pass undetected, however.” "It was difficult not to be seen but I didn't want to be found" she said quietly. "I am grateful that Ithilia does not make much noise. I travelled mostly at night to avoid detection. My father told me that it what he used to do when he travelled. That is how I have been moving around." she said smiling slightly that her father's experience had come to good use with her. “Before we reach Edoras, I need to hear anything you might know from your travels. Did you see any other Orcs between Lothlorien and here? Encounter any strange travelers or anyone at all?” She wasn’t a tracker, so she wouldn’t know exactly what to look and listen for. “Were the birds singing? Did you see any woodland animals? Nothing is too insignificant.” "There were no orcs. The elves that remain told me that the orcs heading this way were not in a great number so that if I insisted on going that way my horse should be able to avoid them. I did see a cloaked figure, I glimpsed only a glance. She was female, red hair, dressed like you are as a matter of fact only in a fashion befitting a female. Apart from that I did not see anyone out of the ordinary nor do I think she was out of the ordinary" she said. "The birds were singing and the woodland animals I saw seemed fine and unafraid." she looked at the King wondering whether her answers should have satisfied his curiousity. |
| Deleted User | 12 Sep 2008, 08:28 PM Post #15 |
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Aragorn listened to her whole story with disbelief. She clearly had planned the whole thing well, although taking the western way around was not what Aragorn would have considered a very bright thing to do. He wondered if she knew how lucky she was that the Gondorians and Rohirrim had cleaned the White Mountains of Orcs and, more importantly, that the Army of the Dead was gone. He decided it wasn’t worth saying. By her manner, he could see that she was ashamed to have to admit all of this to her King. That was a start. It was her account of her recent travels that interested Aragorn more. He frowned deeply. “I feared as much.” With no signs of unrest, they would have no clues as to who or what had caused this band of Orcs to behave so boldly. All they knew was that something or someone was out there. With the rumors flying around Gondor, Aragorn was sure the Lieutenant of Barad-dur gossip would pick up tenfold. “Have you been to Edoras before, Celarwen? Their court is very different from ours—not as formal, to begin with—and their people were devastated by the War of the Ring in ways we were not.” What he was trying to convey, without saying as much, was that the Rohirrim were not Northern savages, as some in Gondor proclaimed, but they were not wealthy or especially proper either, and their capital city reeked of horse even on its cleanest day. Also, he did not trust a young Gondorian lady to behave civilly in Meduseld without first being told to. It was one of the rare traits he possessed that earned him disapproving glares from Gondorian noblemen. |
| Deleted User | 12 Sep 2008, 09:00 PM Post #16 |
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“Have you been to Edoras before, Celarwen? Their court is very different from ours—not as formal, to begin with—and their people were devastated by the War of the Ring in ways we were not.” "No I was making my round. This is my first time in Rohan" she added. She looked over at the South with a very reluctant expression. She unconsciously tightened her grip on her reins as she watched the riders around her. She felt like a prisoner being escorted to Rohan. She really hated the idea of the humiliation she would face if the King of Gondor brought her back. It would be like a knife in the stomach the humiliation her parents would face too. She couldn't do that to them and this was the only chance she had. She turned her reins to the right and Ithilia turned away from the King and his rangers. She dug her heels in and Ithilia increased her pace and soon she guided Ithilia into a full gallop away from the King and the rangers. She didn't look back in case she made things worse. "Please...please..." |
| Deleted User | 14 Sep 2008, 01:55 PM Post #17 |
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The girl took off without so much as a word. Brego could catch them, of that Aragorn was sure. But a King did not chase after misbehaving children, particularly not when he had a meeting with another King. Eomer had to know what had happened in the Fold and soon. “Go after her,” he ordered one of the Rangers. “If you catch her, escort her back to Minas Tirith and her father.” Aragorn maneuvered Brego’s reins so they were once again facing Edoras. They still had a long ride ahead of them. |
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